US 10,895,682 B1 · Efficient photonic circuits for liquid-cooled high-density datacenters

Abstract

Photonic circuits are disclosed having an efficient optical power distribution network. Laser chips (InP) having different wavelengths are flip-chip assembled near the center of a silicon photonic chip. Each InP die has multiple optical lanes, but a given die has only one wavelength. Waveguides formed in the photonic chip are optically connected to the lanes, and fan out to form multiple waveguide sets, where each waveguide set has one of the waveguides from each of the different wavelengths, i.e., one waveguide from each InP die. The waveguide network is optimized to minimize the number of crossings that any given waveguide may have, and no waveguide having a particular wavelength crosses another waveguide of the same wavelength. The unique arrangements of light sources and waveguides allows the use of a smaller number of more intense laser sources, particularly in applications such as performance-optimized datacenters where liquid cooling systems may be leveraged.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An integrated optical power distribution network for a photonic chip comprising:

a photonic substrate having a plurality of cavities adapted to receive respective light sources;
and
a plurality of waveguides formed in a single optical layer of said photonic substrate, each said waveguide having a proximate end and a distal end, the distal ends of said waveguides being arranged in different sets each set having multiple waveguides, and the proximate ends of the multiple waveguides in a given set terminating at different respective cavities, wherein at least some of said waveguides cross other ones of said waveguides within the single optical layer and a number of waveguide crossings for any given waveguide is less than or equal to a predetermined number.

A photonic circuit comprising:

a silicon photonic chip having a plurality of cavities located in a central area along a top side of said silicon photonic chip;
a plurality of laser chips each having a different wavelength operatively bonded to said silicon photonic chip in respective cavities, each said laser chip being a unitary structure with multiple output lanes such that the output lanes for a given one of said laser chips have a same one of the wavelengths;
a plurality of optical components formed in said silicon photonic chip;
an integrated optical distribution network selectively providing optical power from said laser chips to said optical components, said integrated optical distribution network including a plurality of waveguides formed in a single optical layer of said silicon photonic chip, each waveguide having a proximate end and a distal end, the distal ends of the waveguides leading to said optical components and being arranged in different sets each set having multiple waveguides, and the proximate ends of the multiple waveguides in a given set terminating at respective output lanes of different laser chips such that each waveguide set has one and only one of the waveguides of each of the different wavelengths, wherein at least some of the waveguides cross other ones of the waveguides within the single optical layer, a number of waveguide crossings for any given waveguide is less than or equal to a topological minimum necessary to achieve distribution of the waveguides from the laser chips to the waveguide sets, and no waveguide having a particular wavelength crosses another waveguide having the particular wavelength;
and
a heat sink applied to a bottom side of said silicon photonic chip.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Efficient photonic circuits for liquid-cooled high-density datacenters

Life of this patent

Efficient photonic circuits for liquid-cooled high-density datacenters

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20